1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to the field of online commerce. More particularly, the invention relates to information presentation and management in an online trading environment, such as an online shopping site, an online auctioning site, an online e-commerce site, an online person-to-person trading site, or the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
More and more Internet users are realizing the ease and convenience of buying and selling online by way of person-to-person online trading pioneered by eBay Inc., the assignee of the present invention. As a result, collectors, hobbyists, small dealers, unique item seekers, bargain hunters, and other consumers, are able to buy and sell millions of items at various online shopping sites.
The success of an online shopping site depends upon its ability to provide an enjoyable shopping experience and an easy-to-use environment in which buyers and sellers can conduct business efficiently. Current online shopping sites have certain limitations in the manner in which they present information to users. With reference to FIG. 1, a typical item listing will briefly be described. A textual list of items 105 representing the results of a user query is presented within a web page format 100 to the user (e.g., a prospective buyer) on his/her computer system. In this example, the web page format 100 presented to the prospective buyer includes items 110 that are currently available for sale on a particular page 170 within a particular category 160. Each item 110 includes a hypertext link 115 having a title (or brief description) of the item for sale, an indication 120 of whether or not an image of the item is available, the current minimum bid 130, the number of bids received 140, and an auction ending time 150. Based upon the item titles, prospective buyers can decide whether or not to view more detailed information on a particular item. In order to view detailed information on a particular item of interest, the buyer is required to select the hypertext link 115 associated with the item. A new page is then presented with more detailed information regarding the item selected. The more detailed information may include, among other things, the item""s starting price, a username associated with the seller of the item, a username associated with the current high bidder, a detailed description of the item in text or HTML format, and an image the seller has associated with the item, for example. To continue browsing other items of interest, the prospective buyer must return to the previously viewed listing, using the browser""s xe2x80x9cBackxe2x80x9d function, for instance, and select the hypertext link 115 associated with the next item of interest. While associating an image with an item, such as a digitized picture of the item, has the advantage of allowing the prospective purchaser to make a more informed decision, the iterative process of individually selecting items to view their images can be very time consuming and even frustrating.
In light of the foregoing, it is desirable to provide an improved user interface for online commerce sites. In particular, it would be advantageous to enhance the online trading experience by providing buyers with a mechanism to more quickly preview items for sale. Additionally, the trading experience of sellers may be improved by automating certain aspects associated with item registration.
A method and apparatus for information presentation and management in an online trading environment are described. According to one aspect of the present invention, person-to-person commerce over the Internet is facilitated by providing prospective buyers the ability to quickly preview items for sale. Images are harvested from a plurality of sites based upon user-supplied information. The user-supplied information includes descriptions of items for sale and locations from which images that are to be associated with the items can be retrieved. Thumbnail images are created corresponding to the harvested images and are aggregated onto a web page for presentation at a remote site.
According to another aspect of the present invention, a user may submit a query to preview items for sale. After receiving the query, thumbnail images corresponding to items that satisfy the user query are displayed, each of the thumbnail images previously having been created based upon a user-specified image.